A dramatic tale of archaeological adventure with a magical twist, this book had echoes of Indiana Jones and Laura Croft, and I mean that as a compliment.
Memphis (M) is mourning the death of her father, an archaeologist , and determined to solve the mystery he was working on at the time of his death. Growing up on a variety of dig sites, she has become a veritable font of knowledge when it comes to ancient languages and cultures, she's also more than ready to defend herself if needs be. When she meets Ashwin Sood, she does not know what to make of him, he seems a little too polished to be real, and it soon turns out that her instincts are spot on.
In an adventure packed fast paced quest that takes our dynamic duo around the globe , the reader is hooked , and there are more than enough twists and turns to maintain that engagement, The characters are breathed into life on the page, and M in particular is a heroine that will appeal to a great number of readers, just as happy to do the rescuing as be rescued, and always ready with a clever quip. The magical aspect is well incorporated into the story and blends well with the archaeological theme. I was especially impressed by the amount of research that the authors must have done and how well they incorporated historical details into the story without ever impeding the pace of the book.

I Do Not Trust You reminded me of National Treasure. You know, the movie with Nicolas Cage where he goes on a treasure hunt to find a treasure hidden hundred of years ago. All the clues were on national monuments and he had to get creative in getting them. It also reminded me of the Indiana Jones movies. Mainly when Ash and M were trying to get to the clues. But this book fell short for me. As much as I enjoyed reading about Ash and M’s antics around the world, it got repetitive towards the end. The plotline seemed like it was going in circles. I wasn’t engaged. The end of the book did pull me back in because of what happened. If it wasn’t for that battle scene, the book would have been a wash.

I liked M but couldn’t connect with her. I couldn’t wrap my head around a teenager who was an expert in long-lost languages and ancient cultures. She also acted so much older than what she was. If I didn’t know that she was underage, I would have pegged her for at least 20-21. I did like her moves with the bo staff. It came in handy keeping away unwanted advances from boys and taking enemies out. I also liked how she took Ash under her wing.

I felt awful for Ash. It looked like he went from one abusive situation to another. There was a twist with him that surprised me. Not only with what he could do but what was done to him. I wanted to smack the heck out of his parents for the years of abuse that they put him through. The things that they said and did to him were awful. All because of what he was. On the other hand, I didn’t think that Patrick from the Eye was any better. Yes, he rescued Ash but he also kept him under strict surveillance. I liked how he got himself back towards the end of the book. He deserved it.

Like I mentioned above, I Do Not Trust You reminded me of a hybrid National Treasure/Indiana Jones. Since I liked both of those movies, I figured would like this book. And I did for the first half of the book. But the second half of the book got repetitive and the plotline lagged. It seemed like it was going in circles and I couldn’t keep my interest in the book.

There is no romance in I Do Not Trust You. Which was amazing and one of the things I liked about the book. I like romance, a lot, but there are certain books where romance shouldn’t be touched. I Do Not Trust you is one of those books. M and Ash’s relationship was a friendship. Loved it!!

The locations where the clues were located were amazing. The one that freaked me out was the Paris Catacombs. I have read about that place and it is creepy. To have M and Ash actually go through them, chilling.

The secondary characters were kind of eh in I Do Not Trust You. Honestly, the only one that I liked was Mike. I was as surprised as Ash when they went to Thailand to see Mike. My reaction was laughter and I thought to myself “I should have known!!”

The end of I Do Not Trust You was amazing. It made up for the rest of the book. I also liked how the author left it open for another book.

What I Liked about I Do Not Trust You:

A) Ash and M’s friendship

B) Interesting start of the book

C) Locations where the book was set

What I disliked about I Do Not Trust You:

A) The book was repetitive in the second half of the book

B) Plotline lagged

C) Plotline seemed like it was going in circles

I gave I Do Not Trust You a 3-star rating. This book was fantastic in the first half of the book. It had an interesting start and the locations caught my interest. Then the plotline both lagged and started going in circles in the second half of the book. It failed to hold my interest. Now saying that the end of the book was able to grab and keep my attention.

I would give I Do Not Trust You an Older Teen rating. There is no sex (or kissing). There is mild violence. There is mild language. I would not recommend anyone under the age of 16 read this book.

I am on the fence about rereading I Do Not Trust You. I am also on the fence about recommending this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review I Do Not Trust You.

All opinions stated in this review of I Do Not Trust You are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

[Excerpt]:

Rating: 1.5 stars

As always, spoilers ahead!

I went into this book not knowing what to expect. In the synopsis it says that M is really good with languages and ancient culture and knows how to fight. Of course, this puts me in mind of other kickass girls like Maximum Ride and Katniss Everdeen (not so much the language skills as the fighting skills).

Not to mention there’s a main male character named Ashwin who’s apparently involved in a cult. Now, I assumed this was going to be a silly, fun adventure book about this guy who half-heartedly believes in this cult but really knows better. That is NOT what happened.

This book was, above everything, confusing and, frankly, boring.

The only reason I give books 1 star is because it’s either 1) terribly written, 2) makes me enranged/furious/pissed off, or 3) a combination of both. This book was NOT terribly written, nor did it make me angry. I just couldn’t follow what was going on. I gave the book 1.5 stars because I did find the ancient language aspect fascinating, and I thought Ashwin’s childhood was horrifying but also interesting to read about because it’s nearly impossible to believe that parents could treat their child to such abuse, but the horrific abuse described in this book DOES happen, and frequently, in real life.

[Full review on my blog![

I had high expectations for this book, I’m not going to lie. I remember going full speed ahead when I read Sanctuary Bay last year. This just didn’t live up to that expectation. Something just fell flat and the farther I got into the book the worse it got.

I am obsessed with all of the characters. Take M. The girl with all of the knowledge about these ancient civilizations thanks to all the archaeology digs she went on with her dad. She was full of sass and smarts from the beginning. No one can sneak up on her and no one could trick her. It was so refreshing to have a character I wasn’t constantly yelling at.

I used to be obsessed with ancient culture, specifically Egyptian, so when I read in the synopsis this was a book with travelling everywhere, including the catacombs in Paris and sacred Norwegian forests and even a submerged Egyptian temple? I was pretty sold.

M and Ash go on all of these adventures and it started out amazing. They were discovering all of these secrets and experiencing new things and then that just kind of stopped. I think that’s where it started to fall flat. It just lost some of the thrill of being in new places and ended up just being plot points.

There was a scene closer to the beginning where they were in the catacombs and I could have easily read an entire book of just that scene and it’s a shame they didn’t keep up that type of creativity throughout the book.

I Do Not Trust You is a fast-paced YA novel with an engaging heroine and a decent mix of adventure and mythology. In my opinion, it could have benefited from a less generic title, but in any case one should not judge a book by its cover (or name, in this instance)

As far as the premise goes, I Do Not Trust You proved to be exciting and would overall be a safe bet for any reader in search for some action. I did not particularly enjoy the writing style, finding it simplistic and monotonous; in all fairness, there is nothing very special or unique about the plot or the characters either, except perhaps for Memphis, who is smart and determined and, most of all, loyal to her family. There are many forced twists and turns and even some manufactured tension, in an attempt, I gather, to raise the stakes and develop the relationship between Memphis and Ash, which was not wholly successful in my opinion. I don't want to be overly critical in my review, keeping in mind what this book is meant to be and the audience it aims to; in fact I would say it is plenty good compared to other works in its genre. I can imagine the adolescent audience enjoying this, as I would have a few years ago (my love for Egyptian mythology would have certainly driven it straight home) However, simply belonging to a genre does not excuse poor writing, hence my rating. Now, aside from the issues I highlighted above, I still think this is a good book, very quick to get through and excellent in its effort to put a twist on a very popular ancient Egyptian myth. I mostly enjoyed the treasure hunt aspect, which took the characters to a number of locations rich in culture and history. I know it's been mentioned here before, but if you like Indiana Jones there's a big chance you're going to love this also.

DNF at 15%

This book is very unrealistic. It should be a middle grade book, in my opinion. The concept is interesting enough when you read the synopsis, but the execution is poor.

4 1/2 stars

So much fun! I love thrillers and mysteries and I Do Not Trust You by Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz had elements of both, not to mention a healthy dose of supernatural, archaeology, anthropology, and psychology.

Memphis "M" Engel is a fun character. She comes across as both old and young for her age, no doubt because of the lifestyle she had, tagging along with her archaeologist parents around the world. She's wily and creative and a master of self-defense and just so much fun to read about.

M combined with the subject matter made for a fantastic, page-turning read in which the reader wondered what would happen next in this literal romp around the world and passage into different cultures.

And then there's Ash, who M believes is part of a cult, until he does something extraordinary that makes her realize that there is so much more going on than she can possibly believe or perhaps accept.

If you are looking for a fun YA thriller, you might want to give this one a try, especially if you like archaeology and supernatural thrown in--imagine a very young female Indiana Jones.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Memphis (M) is a really interesting character from the off. She's had an amazing upbringing and then suffers an overwhelming loss - that of her father who is her closest person. When she meets Ash and discovers he's still alive, everything changes. And her quest begins!

M is hands down my favourite of all the characters (although, Mike runs a close second) because she reminds me a lot of myself at 18. She's strong and smart and fiercely loyal to those she cares about - she goes above and beyond to try to save her father. She also seems very adult for her age at first, but then she begins to become a bit more immature. I think a lot of it is down to stressing about her father and the most recent part of her life. She's also hilariously funny and I loved that she used words like bananapants!

Ash I didn't like so much. I loved how well-formed his character was, but I hated that he was always hiding things from M, which is slightly hypocritical of me seeing as M is doing the same. I think the difference for me was the reasoning behind it for each of them. He's doing it for his religious beliefs, and M is doing it to save her father. I suppose they are both in the right, but a human being's life is a lot more important than a cult. In my eyes, anyway! He is flawed, yet still interesting. I found myself trying to figure out what his motives were more than once - clearly they don't entirely align with his cults designs.

I loved the use of mythology and mysticism entwined throughout the story. It made it that much more intriguing, and mythologically-themed fiction is my favourite!! One of my favourite scenes is when M makes the point that all mythology was once a societal belief system. It made me ponder the likes of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, etc., and wonder how long will it take for those to become nothing more than mythology and for some other belief system to take over.It's interesting to see how once the majority of people no longer believe something, it becomes mythology.

I really enjoyed this book for many reasons. It was a really good read and I would absolutely recommend it to friends! I found it different to what I would usually read, which was really refreshing and totally raced through it.

I’ve always enjoyed stories of archeological treasure hunts since they combine fascinating mythology with daring exploits. Because of that, I Do Not Trust You was an absolute delight for me to read. The tale of a young woman, a mysterious map, a handsome, enigmatic young man and the quest for a lost and powerful artifact, it’s the perfect book for someone looking for an armchair adventure.

After her father’s death, eighteen-year-old Memphis ‘M’ Engel has been counting down the days to graduation and college. She has nothing against her new guardians, a couple who knew her parents back in their college days, but she has nothing in common with them either. M, raised at numerous archeological digs, reads and writes a frightening number of languages, including many from long lost cultures; has an amazing grasp of history; is an expert at spelunking, diving, climbing and martial arts; is an outstanding student and has an intuitive grasp of how to solve problems. The guardians? A perfectly ordinary middle-class American couple – or so she thinks.

Ashwin – Ash - Sood is following M one afternoon when he learns first hand just how fast and talented at martial arts she is. He had known reaching out to her via stalking was a risk, but he wasn’t sure how else to contact her. M’s guardians are actually part of a cult who worship the god Set, and they aren’t taking care of her, they’re holding her hostage. Her father, Dr. Engel, isn’t dead, he’s a prisoner of that same cult. They have him translating a copy of a map that leads to hidden pieces of a statue of Set. The cult believes that if the pieces, scattered around the world, are reunited Set will return to rule over the earth.

Ash, a member of a rival cult called the Eye of Horus, knows M has the original map in her possession. He’s insistent that when Set returns, the god will usher in the apocalypse. He wants M to give him the map, so he can give it to the acolytes of Horus, sworn to protect the world from Set, but M convinces Ash the only way forward is for the two of them to recover the pieces of Set. She’ll trade them to the Horus followers in exchange for their aid in rescuing her father. An epic journey, full of chases, ancient temples, magic and romance follows.

I don’t read hieroglyphs, am unfamiliar with the worship of Set and Horus, don’t know the geography of France and have no knowledge of Sanskrit. That means I can’t speak to the accuracy of the text, the legends it describes or the settings it speaks of. Typically, in these kind of stories, copious artistic liberties are taken, and in this novel that is especially true, since Ash can wield magic and the plot involves the possible reincarnation of a god. Those looking for a travel journal or historically accurate depiction of ancient civilizations should probably look elsewhere. However, those looking for a fast paced, rollicking good time have come to the right place.

The strongest, and most enjoyable component of the tale is the relationship between M and Ash. As the title states, in the beginning, they don’t trust each other. M knows that Ash is willing to negotiate with her only because she has the map. She also knows he wants to steal it from her so he can take the map back to the Eye, which she can’t afford to let happen since it would leave her with no collateral to negotiate for her father’s life. She is rightfully wary of him, yet grows to admire him as she comes to know him. Ash is smart and kind and funny and honorable, in spite of the fact that he clearly had a very rough upbringing. As our story progresses, M begins to trust their joint experiences and her knowledge of his character rather than judging him strictly by who he is working for.

Ash believes that finding the pieces of Set will usher in the apocalypse, but he’s had a secret yearning to locate them since early childhood. M has the map well hidden (his sect has searched for it before) so he uses that as an excuse to join her on her globetrotting adventures. As he comes to know the smart, beautiful adventuress he finds himself more and more drawn to her.

I liked that even when they didn’t trust each other M and Ash treated each other with respect. I liked that they were able to talk out their differences and work as a team. I liked that they were attracted to each other but had the good sense to hold off on the smexy times given that they were being chased by villains and trying to decipher centuries old cryptic clues. The simple fact is I liked M and Ash, both as a couple and as individuals.

The romance here is more interest than action. Ash and M are attracted to each other, and as the story progresses, begin to like each other and truly enjoy each other’s company. The action keeps it from moving beyond the will-they-or-won’t-they phase however, which I thought was perfect given the circumstances.

This book scores high on exploits, fun and camaraderie. Ash and M visit Paris, Norway, South America, North America and a handful of other places as they decode ancient keys and go from being reluctant allies to close friends. The authors handle this all with a light, loving hand, setting the perfect tone for our adventure.

The tale not only involves multiple locations but has multi-cultural stars. Ash is a twenty-two-year-old South Asian Brit and M a biracial (white/Chinese Malaysian) American. They’re very much from the cultures they were raised in however. M teases Ash for his ‘posh’ manners, he congratulates her for being more than just a bratty clone of a Pretty Little Liars character. Their birth cultures are evident only in their appearance; their language and manners are very Western.

I Do Not Trust You is for fans of Laura Croft, Indiana Jones, James Rollins and the classic novels of Alistair MacLean. This entertaining, boisterous tale will be sure to delight aficionados of the action/suspense/thriller market.

Buy it at: Amazon/Barnes & Noble/iBooks/Kobo

Not my typical cup of tea but I did enjoy the globe trotting adventure, save the Dad-save the World vibe this book had going. Might be a good fit for someone interested in mythology.

Overall, I am quite surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It really blew me away. I wasn't expecting an adventure of a lifetime, a friendship that is deep and envy-worthy and a story that will not let me put it down. The writing was perfect for creating the atmosphere. The plot executed each unique adventure quite well, even if things started to stretch towards the end. I loved how the characters just pull you in from the first page. This was a fantastic novel and I wish we could have more from the characters. Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this novel.

This was a very enjoyable and interesting thriller. I found it to be not entirely unpredictable amongst the YA thrillers I have read, but it was a quick read and a fun ride.

So this wasn’t my favorite book in the world, but I’ll start off with the stuff I liked.

+ Flying around the world on an adventure is always fun. In that sense, this book kind of reminded me of all of those spy/action movies that involve a group of people flying around the world to stop evil.

But unfortunately that was just about the only thing I liked about this book.

- I wasn’t a fan of the characters, both Ashwin “Ash” Sood and Memphis “M” Engel. I didn’t really get why M went only by her first initial?? Also, even though the book is in third-person, it alternates between M’s and Ash’s POV. However, it was sometimes kind of confusing to know whose head you were in, because the voices aren’t that distinct and the POV’s switch off at random intervals. They also both held a lot of info back, despite the reader being in their heads. I’m not a fan of this trope: if I’m in a character’s head, just tell me what they’re thinking!!

- I had some problems with the diversity of this book as well as the facts given about the locations they traveled to. First off, the diversity: Ash is a second-generation British citizen, but he has Indian ancestry. M is half-Malaysian and presumably half-white. However, Metz and Burns conveniently leave out all the baggage that comes with being POC in today’s world. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think every story about people of color has to be about race, but (as an Indian-American myself) I can tell you that it’s unfortunately nearly impossible for a brown-skinned person to go through several airports in Europe without being singled out for an “extra security check.” While I don’t think that every book about people of color has to be about race or racism, these are experiences that are integral to being a non-white person in a Western-centric world.

Additionally, I realized after checking out Kirkus’s review of this book that there are several factual inaccuracies about the cultures depicted in this book. That was pretty annoying, considering that M’s entire personality is built on being more knowledgeable than everyone else on world cultures, and considering that this book is targeted to teens for whom this book might be a first exposure to some non-Western cultures.

- The entire book’s premise is based on M’s love for her father, but I just didn’t see a connection between them. Throughout the book, readers are repeatedly told how characters feel, rather than shown how their emotions play out. I honestly wasn’t that invested in M and Ash’s journey as a result.

- If you’re reading this book for the romance and/or friendship, don’t. Ash and M’s entire relationship is based solely on the fact that they’re traveling the world together. That’s about it. I was kind of waiting for them to become solid friends, but that doesn’t ever materialize.

This book wasn’t for me, but I also wouldn’t recommend it because of the inaccurate representation of non-American cultures. 1.5/5 stars

I feel as if I should have liked this book more than I actually did. Not to mention that this book was not what I thought it would be (that is of course my fault), but then I think about the books that are similar to this one that I did like (like Six of Crows, The Wrath and the Dawn, etc.) and realized that I Do Not Trust You just fell short for me in the long run. It wasn't me, it was the book.

Memphis, or "M" as her friends and family call her, was like a modern day (and female) Indiana Jones. The concept of the story was fascinating and overall creative in many ways but the book got really repetitive and monotonous. By the halfway mark I was tired of reading the same thing over and over by the half-way point but still kept pushing on. Some of the dialogue even seemed repetitive to me.

Let me start off by giving this BEA-UTIFUL cover a shout out! I can't lie by saying this is what gravitated me to this book. Love the red and the dark colors combined <3.

Now.. let me get to the good stuff. So this reminded me a tad bit of Indiana Jones status with traveling the world. What I liked about the book? I really enjoyed "M" who is short for Memphis. She is quite the independent and bad ass women with her martial arts skills. Ash is also very interesting and what I loved even more is how racially diverse both of these characters are! Kuddos to the author for this :).

I also fell in love with the atmospheric portion of the novel! It's stellar!!

My main issues with this novel is... your signing up for an adventure book with this one. So, of course you're wanting to be on the edge of your seat with thrills and chills to the substance. But, it was definitely lacking the excitement to the adventures and didn't deliver quite the way it should have. I wanted more and it unfortunately failed to deliver on the adventure aspect.

Although, I surprised myself with how quickly I read this one. In a day and a half!

3 stars

Thank you so much to St. Martin's and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Expected publication date: 9/11/18
Published to GR: 8/14/18

I really thought this was silly. Could not get into it. Read like a book for an elementary student. It started out slow then they had some adventures but it was all so silly and ridiculous even the modest adventure parts of it couldn't save it. I understand it is a young adult book but I can't imagine a teenager wanting to read about these two dummies at all.

I won’t lie and say I didn’t have a hard time with this, especially towards the middle. But, as always, the ending snagged my interest, so it’s fine. Indiana Jones and Lara Croft are two stories you’ll see this being compared to often, because the parallels are staggering. Yet,, the journey’s and the harrowing escapes(?) started to become repetitive and I started to have so many questions. And even when things were explained, I could barely keep up. However, M as one of our POV’s was… probably my favorite part of the book. She was smart, I can’t even lie; she was witty and driven and knew just what she wanted and what she needed to get it done. Ash was the one who I did not trust… for a while. He had a mysterious, not-so-good past; it was obvious the two were opposites. Watching them learn to trust each other during the journey was a bit nerve-wracking, But I came to like him, especially in the end.I did appreciate the discussion of religion and such. There are honest discussion and though M does tease him a bit (she’s a firm believer in things having explanations), but again— honest conversations and ultimate respect. Speaking of the end, it definitely leaves things open for a sequel. There’s absolutely no doubt about it. And I’m not opposed to it.

I Do Not Trust You is quite an interesting novel. It's about cults, ancient Egypt, and symbols. It feels like a YA The Da Vinci Code!

I really enjoyed the main characters. M is a strong, capable young woman who speaks multiple languages, knows martial arts and is super smart. Ash has a secret past, and I was really intrigued by him ... and his developing relationship with M.

The adventures M and Ash had together were packed full of adventure and fun. They had a lot of mishaps along the way, but as the book developed, the adventures did begin to bore. Just because they didn't really lead up to anything, they were just obstacles to overcome and weren't mentioned again. I was still hooked reading the book, but it did take me a while to read.

While I ultimately enjoyed the book, the actions scenes dwindled a little for me, although the main mystery kept me intrigued.

This was not my cup of tea. I hate to say that this story and style did absolutely nothing for me. Maybe it’s a case of “it’s not you, it’s me”

DNF at 47%

It takes a lot for me to DNF a book, but this one was just really not doing it for me. The mixing of mythologies led to a lot of confusion, and overall, the novel just felt so unfocused. I couldn't tell what it wanted to do, where it wanted to go, or what it wanted to be about. Everything was so rushed, with little to no introduction to the characters and their circumstances before it took off like lightning. Something was just missing here to make it a thrilling adventure. While I loved how headstrong the characters were and found the concept intriguing, it just simply wasn't for me.